Espeon with a Second Chance
by Watson Baker
Summary: This is a remake of Lanny-Sama's story 'Life as an Espeon'. Paul is traveling as usual until late at night, a terrible accident causes some big changes. Rated M for character death and romance! Enjoy! This is a slow progressing Yaoi but there will be yaoi!
1. Call of the Night

Hey there people! This is Baker doing a touch up on this wonderful story that I want to have recognized for its awesome plot. The original writer Lanny-Sama did an excellent job! I won't actually add new chapters till all my other stories are finished, but I would love to work on this sometimes, so enjoy the edited version!

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**Call of the Night**

The calls of different bird pokemon filled the air, causing other nocturnal pokemon to scurry about in the dark. Paul stared into the fire and gritted his teeth with frustration. All of his pokemon were huddled together on the opposite side, staring at their master. Most nights were like this while traveling, but Paul didn't care about how they silently gazed at him.

'Stupid pokemon…' he thought with disgust. 'I hate all those vile creatures with their stupid squeals!'

Unfortunately he didn't have to spend any money on repels.

An hour passed, but sleep would not come to him. There was something in the air that kept him on edge. His pokemon were lying around, some of them steadily breathing as if asleep, but Paul knew that most of them were still awake and as alert as he was. Paul sighed and stood up while brushing off the dirt from his clothes.

"Get up you weaklings," he growled.

With a quick kick he knocked his Torterra roughly in the belly, making it roar in pain. The other pokemon lying around him jumped up in surprise.

'Why do I even take these stupid things with me?'

"We're leaving." Paul announced to them as he packed up his gear and started heading down the dark path. He walked on, not looking to see if his pokemon followed him.

'If they're too stupid to follow me they aren't worth my attention.'

He walked on, only being guided by moonlight. The forest was eerily quiet and his pokemon walked unusually close to his legs. His pokemon kept whimpering and shivering because of a mysterious fearful aura. Suddenly Gliscore tripped and bumped into Paul's right leg, causing the teen to snap.

"What is wrong with all of you!?"

The pokemon cringed and looked at the ground in shame of angering their trainer again. Paul just muttered under his breath "worthless thrash..." and called them back inside their pokeballs. He had no need for his pokemon act weak and tremble in his shadow.

He walked on without delay until the path ended at a huge abyss. Leaning over the edge a little, Paul could make out the faint roar of an unknown pokemon below.

"Going on now would just be stupid… walking on the edge of an abyss in the middle of the night... definitely not a smart idea.," Paul grunted in annoyance.

He decided to lay his backpack on the ground and set up his camp again. 'I'll check for a map in the morning' Paul thought as he sat down.

Suddenly a strange crying sound caught his ears.

'Is that a pokemon?' Paul questioned because he knew almost all the cries pokemon could make. This one was completely new, which meant that it was probably rare and powerful. Rare pokemon were strong pokemon, and both of them were welcome in Paul's evergrowing party.

The cry seemed to echo from the abyss right beside him. Building up curiosity, he bent over the edge and squinted towards the dark pit, hoping to catch a glance of something. A flash of milky-pink flashed in the faint light and the cry sounded again with a louder pitch.

'Could it be...? Mew?' he thought as his eyes grew wide.

Paul got to his feet quickly and grabbed a few empty pokeballs before lowering himself onto a small edge. Suddenly the cry died down, and he could hear nothing but the eerie silence again. Paul leaned forward ever so slightly, in an attempt to find the mysterious pokemon once again.

Without any warning, he slipped from the loose dirt ledge. In one hand, Paul desperately tried to hang on to a root in the ground while tightly holding his empty pokeballs in the other hand. Gravity caused the roots to cut deeply in his hand, causing a few threads of blood to crawl down his arm. After a minute, the strain became too much and he let go, plummeting towards the roaring river below. The empty pokeballs his hands were holding started falling beside him.

"Ahhhh!" Paul screamed as he watched the ledge grow farther away from him.

'It can't end like this! It just can't! All that training, the fighting, my brother, my goals... And now I'm just falling to my death?'

His thoughts ended when he crashed into the water, sending many frightened water pokemon flying from where they were sleeping. The impact caused Paul's back to break, and his head slammed against the stones at the bottom of the river. Paul's eyes clouded over as his vision turned black.

**XXX**

A few kilometers away, Paul's body was washed on the riverbed. A huge slash poured blood from his head, staining his purple hair a sickly color. Paul's black narrowed eyes were filmy and lifeless. The night was as silent as ever, with not even a twig cracking under someone's weight. A small glowing pink figure soared over the river, flying in circles until its small head looked down at the gruesome corpse below.

"Mew! Mew!" It cried as it hovered above Paul's limp body. Realizing that this was the presence it felt earlier, Mew put two and two together.

_ 'This human was probably attempting to catch me…'_ it thought with sorrow._ 'Maybe I can do something to help him…'_

Mew closed its eyes in concentration until a small white light hovered between its tiny paws. It steadily grew bigger as Mew hovered over the body and laid it carefully upon Paul's forehead. The light turned a dark purple, and then flashed into a pure white. The small rounds shape began to take form, and Mew nodded silently.

"_Good luck."_

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So? How did you all like the revamp? Hugs to you all! And don't forget to feed the review link some yummy comments! Until next time,

Chow! : )


	2. Morning Discovery

Hi! I got another one uploaded! For anyone who is taking the time to read this I thank you bunches! This will be it for a while untill I can edit the rest. It's alot! Lanny-Sama wrote a lot XD Enjoy!

Oh yeah, anything in Pokelanguage will be Italicized! kk?

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**Morning Discovery**

Paul slowly opened his eyes and lifted his head to take in his bright surroundings. Trying to stand, he realized he could only get on all four shaky legs.

'Ugh… my head feels awful… What's that smell disgusting smell?'

The sounds from the forest were unusually loud and filled with foreign voices, making Paul sway a little and shake his head.

'What happened? Oh yeah... The river... I am still alive?'

Paul tried to move his head to the left because of the fact that the scent was coming to the left of him. When he opened his eyes wider, he was met with his own face, eyes dull and lifeless. He let out a shriek of horror and jumped in the air.

_ "What?!"_ His own voice echoed back at him sounding more like "Espeon?!"

'What in the name of Ho-oh was going on?!'

Paul panicked in his head as he tried to speak, screaming out random words in an attempt to convince himself that he wasn't what he thought he had become. In a last ditched attempt to clarify what had happened to him, Paul ran towards the water and looked down. A light purple Espeon with black eyes.

"I can't be a freaking pokemon!" He shouted at the reflection that only mimicked his every move. But his strange voice, light purple tail, and his soft paws did not go away.

'I'm an Espeon! A purple, double-tailed Espeon! This can't be happening!' he thought in despair.

Paul sat down shakily on his new haunches, forepaws firmly planted on the ground in front of him.

_"Okay, I needed to calm down. Panicking is for the weak._" Paul told himself, even though his entire form trembled from hearing himself in his new voice.

After a while, the stench of his rotten body got to his sensitive nose He hunched over and let out a dry heave, sounding like a sick Glameow trying to rid itself of a hairball.

He scooted closer to the river and plunged his head under the refreshing water to calm his nerves. After soaking himself Paul pulled his head up, sending droplets of water flying from his ears, and started straightening out his new gleaming fur with his tongue out of instinct. Afterwards, he walked out of the river and headed into the forest, not daring to look back at the river and his corpse.

'This isn't real,' Paul kept chanting to himself as he walked farther. 'It can't be real. I might just be hallucinating. I do remember bumping my head… so maybe I'm just unconscious?'

The possibility of it being a dream made him stop walking.

_"It's all a dream. That's it. I will just pinch... er... bite myself, and then I'll wake up!"_

Paul lifted his paw and viciously sank his sharp canines into it, only to pull back quickly with a surprised howl of pain escaping him.

He stared down at the small bite marks in his paw and registered the pain that entered his body.

'No way... It wasn't a dream...'

The shock of this strange reality started to let his rage and sadness overtaking him.

'Being dead would be better than this! I'm a Pokemon… a foul, stinking machine of entertainment that can get enslaved to an imbecile and have to battle to live and please that worthless person!'

He let out a loud shriek of anger and slashed the grass in a fitful rage, causing pieces to fly in different directions.

_"Whoa… calm down man,"_ a deep mellow voice resounded.

Paul was on his feet in a split second, his fur standing upright and his teeth gleaming in the morning sun as he scanned for the voice. Looking above him, Paul spotted a small Caterpie staring at him from a low branch. Paul just blankly returned its stare, his teeth no longer bared.

_ "Was that your trainer or sumthin' over there? Why are you freakin' out so much? I heard that guy was a very mean person!"_

Paul scowled at the caterpie, realizing that it was talking about him, and stuck his nose up in defiance before walking away.

_"Sorry. I don't talk to weak and stupid little bugs like you."_ Paul said back to the Caterpie.

It gave him an angry look and started crawling after him with alarming speed.

_"I change my opinion, you are meaner!"_

Paul ignored him and continued on until the bug pokemon got the hint and left.

The forest seemed a lot bigger now than when he was a human. Now that Paul had calmed down just a bit, he could sense an entire new dimension with his new found physic aura. Without needing to hear, smell or look, he could sense the whereabouts of dozens of pokemon. His other senses seemed to improve though, and he enjoyed the numerous pieces of information he had never witnessed before.

Finding a sturdy branch, Paul bunched up his muscles and launched himself into the tree, enjoying his newfound agility and strength. After a while, he jumped gracefully down and started wondering again.

The smells lingering in the forest were mostly pleasant, but the imprinted stench of his own rotting flesh seemed to follow him wherever he went. Trying to shake off the memory, he dashed towards a small lake in the forest. Dozens of pokemon were splashing through the water, squealing in happiness as they played with friends and family. Paul was astounded to hear their small voices, sounding more human than pokespeach to him now that he was one of them. Pidgeys were chatting about some oran berries, a Kecleon was telling a story to some caterpie, and a Linoone was singing a song for her Zigzagoon child.

Paul's amazement at the understanding of pokemon language faded quickly as the high pitched squeals began to annoy him. Many different forest pokemon were soon all barking, howling, screeching and whistling, assaulting Paul's poor Espeon ears and human patience. He swiped his paw harshly against a small Starly that just happened to be standing in the wrong place at the wrong time. His claws sliced at the bird's tail, causing pain and surprise from the poor pokemon.

_"Oww! Ow! Mommyyyy!" _It cried in fright, flapping it's wings everywhere in an attempt to hit the attacker.

Paul snarled and whipped his tail roughly against the shrieking Starly.

_ "Shut up! All of you just shut up you worthless creatures!"_

The pokemon sent him angry looks; mothers led their children away from the drama, and a Pidgey fluttered down next to the crying Starly.

_"What do you think you are doing? Starly wasn't doing anything wrong!" _One random pokemon called out to the stranger.

Numerous other pokemon joined in and assaulted Paul's ears with their horrible squeaks. Paul laid his ears flat on his head and hissed dangerously in their direction.

_"Get away from me!"_ He screamed as he slammed against the Pidgey, sending it flying and knocking it against a tree with a thump.

The other pokemon attacked him, wanting to defend their neighbor from Paul's rough treatment, but the newly created Espeon's senses were overloaded with the sounds of the ear-ripping squeaks that assaulted him. A Poochyena bit his leg and he let out a cry of anger and pain.

Suddenly he could feel another dimension ripping open in his mind, its power flowing through his system for a moment before bursting out in a silent but bright explosion. When Paul cracked his eyes open, he saw that his attackers laid unconscious around him.

'Did I just use... psychic?' Paul thought to himself as he recalled the color of the light that seemed to come from above him. His signature toothy smirk started to blossom on his face from the discovery.

'Ah…I'm actually a strong pokemon. All those dozens of pokemon fainted with just one measly hit. Granted, they are useless weaklings, but still...'

The silence was bliss to the secluded former trainer like a warm bath after snowy weather. Paul exited the scene by jumping into a tree and leaping from branch to branch until he found a road with a small puddle of water lying next to it. The sun was shining brightly, and Paul found himself enjoying the light.

He lied next to the puddle and enjoyed the intensified beams of sunlight shining through the clouds. His eyes drooped slowly as he dozed off to memories of the former human verson of himself who hated pokemon with every fiber in his being, and the idiot amber eyed trainer who seemed to drive him insane.

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Nya I hope this chapter was coolio too XD I tried to keep the origional dialogue from the other story! Review and a Jigglypuff will sing for you! XD

Chow! : )


	3. Meeting Idiots

Ash comes into the picture! No feelings of affection from Paul yet guys, but don't worry! I'll get it there soon! Enjoy!

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**Meeting Idiots**

The sound of many different footsteps started waking Paul up from his fitful sleep. For a moment he panicked, looking around for any other attackers. The footsteps sounded again closer and louder than before, so Paul quickly climbed into a nearby tree. There were already pokemon residing in the foliage, so Paul started shoving the entire nest of Weedles and Kakunas out of the branches in his haste to get covered. Then, an all too familiar voice rang through the air in excitement.

"Come on Pikachu! Let's get to the next gym!"

Paul tensed at the sound of the trainer's voice. 'Oh god. Please... Not that idiot and his…'

"_Yeah! I can't wait to take on the next gym!" _Pikachu answered back with perked ears.

'…stupid vile rodent.'

Another voice answered in reply to Ash's comment. "You said it! And then I can get a new ribbon!"

_ "Looking forward to it Dawn!"_ Piplup chirped in agreement.

'That imbecile girl Dawn with her fat flyless Piplup had to show up now… just my luck.'

Paul lowered his ears into his neck and curled his tail around his paws to stay out of sight.

"Ha-ha, you two are fired up, as always." A deep baritone voice resounded.

'And there was the last member of the idiot-club, Brock. Better just stay hidden from these idiots '

But luck wasn't on his side today. Just as Brock, Ash and Dawn passed under the tree, a sharp sting on his back made Paul fall out of his hiding place. Paul attempted to try and land safely, but ended up falling right on top of Ash, who screamed for a second before crumbling to the ground. Paul growled in panic and tried to untangle himself with Ash, but ended up with is claws stuck in Ash's clothes.

"Ow ow ow! Get off!"

A shock of electricity suddenly passed through his body, causing Paul to cry in more pain.

"_Let go of Ash or I'll zap you again! Why are you hurting him?!" _

Paul screeched in reply and finally wriggled loose. As quickly as he appeared he dashed away from Ash and his party of idiots, only to run face first into trunk of his hiding place. Paul could sort of hear a loud crunch, and hoped it was the tree and not his delicate skull. He removed himself from the tree, only to fall to the ground. The world was all fuzzy and his vision was shaking uncontrollably.

'I didn't realize that running so fast into a tree could have this much effect.' He pondered. A small trail of blood started running around his left eye and down his face.

"Ah! You poor thing!" Dawn cried as she bent down, her soft hands lifted him up from the ground while Paul struggled weakly in her grasp.

_ "Leave... Leave me alone woman... I... I am fine...I ….."_ His vision was getting blurrier by the second, and the headache started pounding through his head almost as painfully as it was when he had woken up. Dawn carefully laid him down on a soft blanket while someone was trying to wrap a bandage over his head. He swapped his paws at the assaulting hands furiously.

"Espeon, please stay still. We only want to help you!" She pleaded with worry etched in her features.

Paul hesitated for a small moment, and then decided to let Brock apply the bandages.

'Just this once,' Paul growled to himself, not believing that he was letting this guy fix him up.

"Look, he's as good as new." Brock exlaimed with pride once the patchwork was done.

Paul jumped up as soon as he heard it, intending to run away as fast as possible. But as soon as he got up, a dizzy spell hit him and he almost fell down again.

Ash acted quickly by softly picking the injured pokemon up and stroked its soft fur. Paul wanted to scratch him for invading his personal boundaries, but he didn't have any strength left to resist. A strange heat started spreading throughout his body, making Paul pant visibly in pain. Ash seemed to have noticed too.

"Brock! I think... I think this Espeon has been poisoned!"

'Ah…So this is what being poisoned feels like?' Paul thought hazily, feeling minutely sorry for every pokemon that ever had to experience this sensation of weakness.

It was horrible for Paul, his breathing was getting labored, his vision blurring and focusing without a pattern, and his previous headache returned with a vengeance.

'Those stupid wheedles...'

"We have to get it to a Pokemoncenter quickly!" Ash declared to his friends. Paul mewled out nonsense and swapped his paws at Ash as he ran towards the nearest village.

**XXX**

Only five minutes after they arrived at the healing center, Paul fainted from the feelings overloaded his nerves. He woke up later to the big concerned faces of Ash, Dawn and Brock, letting out a shriek in surprise. He jumped up from where he was recovering and snarled, his fur standing up dangerously and his fangs showing through his scowl. Pikachu gave him an angry look in return.

_ "Hey! They saved you! You could be a little more grateful!"_ Pikachu scolded.

Paul scowled and sat up proudly, his nose in the air as a signature of defiance. _"If it hadn't been for you fools crossing my path this never would have happened in the first place!"_

Pikachu growled angrily at him, wondering why this pokemon sounded so familiar, but Ash interrupted him before he could argue any further.

"Calm down Pikachu, he was just startled because we woke him up! We better leave him alone so he can rest."

Paul gave him a thankful nod and sat down, washing himself to make his point even clearer. But after they had left the room and Paul had finished cleaning himself, he started to feel restless.

_"I feel better… okay, time to ditch these losers."_ He scratched at his bandages until they peeled off, and then nudged the door open as gently as he could.

He snuck through the corridors, loving the fact that he was as silent as the shadows. He tiptoed over to the main entrance of the Poke center and attempted to hide behind a waiting chair.

"Ah! There you are!" Nurse Joy exclaimed as she rounded the corner and spotted the escaped pokemon. Two arms suddenly wrapped around his belly and lifted him into the air. In response, Paul continued to let out a low growl.

'How did I not here her? Damn sneaky nurses!'

He struggled desperately against the feminine arms, but it was all in vain. The one holding him was wearing gloves; quite thick ones too.

"Mister Ketchum, your Espeon is feeling quite well again." She announced as the trio rounded the corner Paul let out an angry shriek and continued to claw at the gloved hands holding him.

"Oh! No it's not my Espeon... We found it in the forest. It was very confused and it was poisoned by some Wheedle, so we brought it to the nearest pokemon-center."

Finally the hands lowered him to the ground, and Paul glared up angrily at Nurse Joy, his fur standing upright yet again in anger. Ash kneeled besides him and laid his hand on Paul's head so he could scratch behind his ear. Paul was about to snap at Ash, but the way the teen was looking at him made Paul a little hesitant to snap at him. It was like his eyes were soothing and calmer than any trainer he had ever met.

"Hey Espeon, would you like us to accompany you back into the forest?"

Paul almost declined for fear of the reaction of anyone finding his dead human body, but then he suddenly remembered his pokemon. They had been going a day without food now, and since he had their pokeballs made extra resistant to forced break-outs, there was no chance they would survive unless someone let them out.

'I still hate pokemon, but letting them starve would be too cruel, even for me.' Paul thought to himself before forcefully nodding his head.

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I'll leave it at there for now okay? Lots of hugs for those who take the time to read this! Until next time,

Chow! : )


	4. Unwanted Discovery

If anyone had questions, anything in italics and with quotes is pokespeach. I thank anyone who has read this story, and I want to continue it. This story is adopted so I can't really take all credit until I start making up chapters. So without further ado, Enjoy!

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**_Unwanted Discovery_**

Paul slowly lead them into the forest where he had died. Every so often Paul would look back and see Pikachu glaring at him.

'He doesn't like me much does he?' Paul sarcastically asked himself. 'Well the feeling is mutual rodent'.

Soon the group reached the bottom of the cliff where Paul had fallen. The scent of rotting flesh was starting to become noticeable, hanging in the air like a dead leaf. Paul shivered a bit and tried to run ahead of them, not wanting to show his rivals his own dead body.

'They'll probably just laugh it off, or fake some sad face before kicking my dead body and leaving it there to rot some more' Paul sniffed, visions of the made up scene playing in his head.

As far as Paul knew, the world hated him. But Pikachu surprisingly didn't ignore the rotting stench of Paul once they got closer. Pikachu sniffed the air in curiosity and started pushing Ash's shoulder to get his attention.

"_Oh my gosh! I smell something terrible! It's so wrong! Ash! Ash! Ash! I smell something terrible! We have to investigate!" _

Ash gave an surprised look at his Pikachu, trying to understand what his friend was telling him.

"What's wrong Pikachu?"

Paul rolled his eyes in annoyance. 'For the love of Arceus stop pretending you understand your stupid Pikachu!'

Pikachu jumped to the ground and tried to take off in the direction of the smell, but Paul jumped in front of him and charged up a psybeam.

"_No. I will NOT allow you to go there." _

_"Why not?" _Pikachu growled back and started charging a thundershock to counter in case the Espeon attacked.

Before either Pokemon could attack, Ash jumped in between them and held up his hands.

"Whoa! Calm down you two! What is going on Espeon?"

Pikachu hopped back onto his friend's shoulder while Dawn attempted to grab Paul and reason with him to calm down.

"Espeon, why won't you let us go there? What if someone's in trouble?"

Paul tried to scream back at Dawn in response to make her irritated with him, but soon realized that he was still once again saying "Espeon!"

'Fine then, if they wanted to find out about my death, I won't stop them. See if I care!'

Paul huffed at Dawn in verbal response instead and continued walking on in front of the group, fearing what was to come. The smell soon got closer, making Paul dread that he would once again have to face his own dead body.

'I bet they'll just roll their eyes and wave it off. No one cared about me anyways.'

Dawn suddenly let out a ear piercing shriek as they arrived at the gruesome scene. Brock staggered back a few steps and covered his mouth, and Ash fell to his knees in disbelief, his eyes shining with unshed tears.

"P...Paul... No!" The raven whispered under his breath.

Paul stared in disgust at his former body, which had decayed more than he had thought possible. Some bird pokemon were pecking at the wound in his head, his skin was a sickly greenish grey from days of exposure, and a poochyena was ripping some flesh from his side. The smell so terrible that it caused Dawn and Brock to start dry heaving.

Ash was trembling as he pushed himself to his feet and ran towards the corpse.

"P...Pikachu, get those pokemon off of him!"

As pikachu shooed off the wild pokemon from the body, Ash looked down at the human Paul, then turned to Espeon and knelt down eye level.

"Espeon... was Paul your... trainer?"

Paul stared at Ash for a moment, wondering if he should lie, then nodded because it would make sense and cause less questions.

"Oh God... Paul!" Ash wailed as he suddenly grabbed Espeon and hugged him in sorrow, his head resting on the pokemon's shoulder.

Paul stared at the other two trainers, who were still crying and throwing up, in amazement. He didn't expect them to behave like this.

'Didn't they hate me and despise me?' Paul questioned himself as he watched them mourn for his unfortunate death. Ash continued to sob and speak to him.

"I... I'm so sorry Espeon...Paul... He... We knew him... just saw him... back at the next town... I can't believe he's gone!"

Paul just laid his head against Ash's chest, not knowing what to do. He decided to do something he would deny later, but he would blame it on the smothering kindness of the trainer who was holding him. Paul hesitantly nudged Ash's cheek and whispered "it's okay" but it came out as "Espeon".

Dawn opened her bag and decided to call the police from her Pokegear.

"You've reached Officer Jenny! How may I help you?"

"O-officer Jenny? D-Dawn here... We... I... We found a... corpse... and..."

"Say no more. We will be on our way. Stay there."

"Okay" Dawn sniffled in reply before shutting off the device.

A few minutes later, a jeep with a siren at the top parked by with Officer Jenny and a Growlithe trudging by her side. They wrapped Paul's human body in blankets, and lifted him onto the truck while the somber atmosphere lingered in the air.

Officer Jenny turned to Ash with eyes downcast to the earth.

"We will bury him tomorrow if you want to come to the funeral," she offered.

"It's okay, I don't think Paul would wanted us to go to his funeral. He didn't exactly like us..." Ash shook his head as he fought to change his decision.

Paul realized that Ash was just trying to be a good friend even though he was dead. The human turned Pokemon choked at the realization. Pikachu kept eyeing Paul warily, still not understanding how the Espeon fit into all of the current events. Ash suddenly gasped in realization.

"Paul had pokemon... They must still be around somewhere, stuck in their pokeballs! You can go back without us. We have to set them free."

Officer Jenny nodded in understanding and rode away.

'I will not let my Pokemon starve, no matter how weak they are!' Paul suddenly thought as he imagined all his Pokemon suffering from starvation because of their missing owner.

With a little hesitance, Paul walked over to Ash and tugged at his jeans with his mouth. Ash sighed and averted his eyes from the truck that was driving away to face the light purple pokemon.

"What is it Espeon?"

Paul turned around and walked up the hill, recognizing the path he had taken has a human only yesterday.

_"I remember where they are. Follow me if you care."_

No one knew what he was saying, but Pikachu got the message and motioned for the three kids to follow him. Ash Dawn and Brock followed silently, their heads still downcast in despair. Sooner than expected they arrived at the camp site, Paul's backpack at the edge of the cliff. There were patches of dirt that showed that someone had climbed down, and a torn root dangling in the wind. Paul gestured towards the backpack, trying to motion expressively to get Ash's attention.

'If acting like the yellow rodent will get the moron to listen to me, I guess I have no choice' Paul growled in his head.

The three trainers instead looked over the edge of the abyss and collectivly shuddered.

"He... Must have fallen down here..." Dawn said in a breathless voice.

Paul looked down, and a shiver ran through him. It hadn't seemed that terrifying high yesterday night, but in the bright light, he saw the river far bellow.

'I was pretty stupid...'

Ash finally went over to Paul's backpack and pulled out all of Paul's pokeballs, throwing them in the air and calling out all of Paul's former team. They looked tired and very surprised to see Ash instead of their strict master. Ash kneeled down in front of them, tears starting to form in his dark brown eyes again.

"I need to tell you guys something... Your trainer, Paul... We found him earlier. He's …. dead. I'm so sorry."

The pokemon stared at him with wide-eyes and opened mouths. Their gaze suddenly shifted to the ground, not even uttering a sound. Paul just glared at them in shock.

'They're silent... is it because of me?'

Ash spoke again once the Pokemon looked up.

"You're all free to find new friends and . You too Espeon... I...I'm so sorry..."

Everyone watched as Paul's old team scattered, each of them going their own way without saying goodbye to eachother.

_"What do I do? Everything I know is lost, and my life is gone..."_ Paul cried out loud once his powerful team had disappeared.

Pikachu ran over to Paul and tilted his head to the side, not understanding the Pokemon's anguish.

_"Your not alone..."_

_"Quit your kindness you yellow pest! Paul doesn't exist anymore! Who am I then? What am I supposed to do now?"_

Ash, Dawn and Brock walked away from the campsite in silence, with Paul trudging behind lost in thought.

'Well I don't want to be stuck with some half pint stranger who just uses me to battle petty fights. Might as well stick with the loser group.'

Paul quickly ran back to the backpack and started digging thought the open bag. After pulling out an old Pokeball, he ran back to Ash and jumped in front of him. Ash gave the psychic Pokemon a blank stare, causing Paul to bristle as he lost patience. Deciding to make it even more obvious, he dropped the pokeball, pointed towards it with his paw and nudged it in Ash's direction.

"Espeon... You... Do you want... me to capture you?"

'Give his a prize... he can finally understand me,' Paul sarcastically thought, then nodded.

Ash picked up the pokeball and gently pressed it against Paul's forehead. Light encompassed the former trainer, causing his vision to turn a transparant red. When Paul opened his eyes, he was curled up in a moderately large white space.

_"Hmm... Pokeballs aren't as small and uncomfortable as I thought..."_ Paul said to himself as he walked around.

After circling the area, he found a small lock at the bottom corner of the circular area, and two other smaller locks on the top and bottom slowly clicking into place. A small beep resounded from the lock, telling everyone that the capture had been completed. With as much skill as Paul could muster without hands, he nudged the locks until they slipped out of place, and jumped out of the pokeball.

'There's no way I'm going to be locked up in a pokeball all day!'

XXX

Pikachu was the first thing he saw as the red light cleared. The electric mouse held out a paw for him to shake and smiled.

_ "Welcome to the team,"_ he announced in a happy tone.

_"Whatever..."_ Paul grumbled as he held out a paw, shaking the other Pokemon's hand.

_"You must of picked up your former trainer's personality,"_ Pikachu shot back before running back to Ash.

The raven haired trainer kneeled down again and held his hand out to Paul with a sad but happy smile.

"We're going to be great friends, I just know it!"

Paul just sighed and walked past Ash to Brock and Dawn with a scowl on his face, ignoring the younger trainer. Pikachu decided to walk next to Paul while they headed off over the hill into the sunset. With one last goodbye, Paul turned around and headed off with the trio.

_ "I guess this is the beginning..."_

_"Of what?"_ Pikachu questioned as they cleared to hill and started on the road to the next town.

Instead of snapping at the Pokemon, Paul just looked at the setting sun with a somber expression.

_ "... it's the beginning of my second chance."_

* * *

There! Paul is part of the group now! I'm so glad I could fix this chapter up too! I need to say something that I forgot. Paul is 15 and Ash is 14 for this fiction. If I'm going to do romance I don't really want Ash to be 10... that's just a little too much for me. And I'm also moving this to the T rated area because there is nothing really M related in here yet, and I might not do anything M related without a little help. Until next time,

Chow! : )


	5. Not Mingling Well

Anyone who want's to support the story, can you review so I know how many people want to see this story continue with romance and trials that I'm sure are to come? I would just really feel motivated if I know some people are interested to see how this goes? If not, still enjoy reading it!

Oh yah, if described otherwise, most internal thoughts are Paul's alone. This is third person but in Paul's pov. Does that make sense?

'blah' = Paul thoughts _"blah" _= Pokespeech "blah" = Regular people talking

* * *

_**Not Mingling Well**_

"W_hat possessed me to become this loser's Pokemon?"_ Paul muttered out loud with distaste as he glared at the trio.

Everyone had stopped under a shady tree to set up camp and eat dinner, leaving Paul to mope on his own in a corner, food bowl placed at his feet untouched.

_"He's so naive and dim-witted I don't think I can stand it! Not to mention Ash's idiotic pokemon. They never stopped chattering about their training, how good the food is, how pretty those loud-mouth's ribbons are or any other meaningless junk. I've only been with them for a day, and that yellow menace is the only one who doesn't repeat the same sentence over and over!"_

Paul attempted to take a small bite of his pokemon food, only to spit it out, causing everyone to focus their attention on him. Pikachu glanced at the mad pokemon, trying to understand what was wrong with his new friend. Not sensing how quiet it was, Paul continued to fume.

_"How do pokemon manage to eat this? It tastes like garbage!"_ Paul shuddered and suppressed his gag reflex as he pushed the food away with his tail. _"No dinner then... all the other pokemon are just gobbling it up as if it's cake! How can they stomach this? Plus they eat with so much noise it could wake up a Snorlax."_

Paul sighed and jumped onto the lower branch of tree, sitting down on his haunches and staring at the clouds.

'I really need peace and quiet once in a while,' Paul thought to himself. 'Just to think a day ago, on a night like this, my life as a human ended.'

Paul closed his eyes to let the other dimension take over his senses. The forest was still bristling with life, many nighttime pokemon were just waking up. The thoughts of the ones around him were like whispers floating through the air.

'Maybe I'm so powerful I can try to hear what people are thinking... nah... It probably won't be anything worthwhile anyway.'

A loud voice abruptly broke Paul's concentration, causing his concentration to start to slip away.

"_Hey Espeon! Don't be such a party-pooper! Come down and play tag with us!" _The voice called, shattering Paul's meditation to shatter like glass, making him flinch as the high-pitched scream pulled him out of the psychic dimension.

'Oh great... it's the most annoying pokemon Ash has in his team.'

When Ash first introduced the flaming monkey to Espeon, Monferno fervently believes that he needed to take care of the psychic cat. Monforno instantly told the secretly-used-to-be-Paul let go of the mean human trainer Paul, and that he hadn't been the nicest trainer when Monferno had known him.

_"Ash is a nicer trainer who cares for all of us,"_ the flame monkey lectured, towering over Paul like a dark shadow.

Paul instantly hated Monferno, realizing it used to be his weak Chimchar.

Paul looked down from his branch and put feral snarl on his face.

"_Leave me alone!"_ He howled, making the poor monkey skitter away from the hot-tempered feline.

_ '_When will this fool stop bothering me?'

Paul jumped a few branches higher and closed his eyes again, preparing to open up the other dimension again and escape the reality he didn't really want to live in.

_**XXX**_

After awhile, another voice broke through the dimension, but it was softer and lighter than Monferno.

"Hey, Espeon?" Ash called from the ground with a worried expression. "You didn't eat a lot of your food, are you okay?"

Paul sighed in irritation and tried to ignore the raven.

'Good thing I got used to Ash's stupid comments. Why can't people realize what a pain in the ass you are. What am I supposed to say to him? "Of course I'm not okay. I just fell off a cliff, died, revived by a mew, turned into an Espeon, got poisoned and now I'm stuck with you!" I can't even say anything to you because I can't talk like a human.'

Paul gave one last sighed before climbing down. He walked quickly past the worried Ash, pulled out his pokeball from Ash's backpack, and began rolling it back and forth between his paws.

Pikachu ran up to Paul and tilted his head in confusion.

_"What are you doing Espeon? Don't you want to play?"_

Paul shook his head and continued with what he was doing, answering truthfully in hopes that Pikachu would leave him alone.

_"This is the only amusement I can get around here besides from pestering wild pokemon."_

Realizing that he couldn't really help the brooding pokemon, Pikachu ran back to the other pokemon to play.

Ash stared at the moping cat for a while, and then sat down by the campfire with his friends, defeat reflecting his eyes like coal in the fire.

"Do you guys think Espeon dislikes me?" Ash asked quietly, but Paul's large ears made it easy to hear what the trainer was saying. Even without trying Paul could sense the emotions flowing through the air.

Brock shuffled then answered in an equally quiet voice. "He is just grieving, the poor thing lost his trainer, and from what I think, he's blaming himself."

Paul hissed and swatted his paw furiously against his pokeball.

'Why are people so darn stupid? They can't determine how I feel!'

"Hey, I have an idea!" Dawn suddenly shouted.

Paul cringed as an instant reflex from her ear-splitting voice. 'Oh god, not that girl... please don't let her give any stupid ideas!'

"Why don't you give him some poffins? I made some just yesterday! I'm sure he'll love them!"

Paul grimaced at the expected idea, not liking Dawn at all for her suggestion.

'Poffins are better than normal food, but it's still degrading next to normal human food. I would do for some nice curry now.'

"I... I don't think Espeon will eat poffins. He was Paul's pokemon, so maybe Paul had Espeon on a strict diet. We should try asking Espeon what he wants to eat." Paul's ears perked up, suddenly interested with what the young raven had suggested.

'Wow... that's pretty much the best idea I've heard come from the runt in my life... uh... new life.'

Ash walk up to Paul, knelt down, and laid his hand on Paul's head. The former human suddenly marveled how warm Ash's hand was on his head. A calm feeling flooded Paul, causing him to slightly shiver.

'This means nothing to me... it's just stupid emotion reading instincts that's all.'

"Hey Espeon," Ash said in a kind voice. "I know you're upset, but will you please eat something? We have more choices besides poffins and pokemon food..."

Not wanting to lose his chance at a decent meal, Paul nodded quickly and replied with a cheerful but forced "Espeon!" Ash smiled, scooped Paul up and brought him to the camp. When Ash wasn't looking, Paul made a disgusted face and tried to wipe his paw with his tongue.

'Ugh... I'm never doing that again! I sounded stupid and mindless like the rest of these creatures! I won't stoop so low for a decent meal ever again! I'm still human and no legendary pipsqueak of a Mew can take that away from me!'

The moment Ash set Paul on the ground, the psychic pokemon jumped onto the table and started eating the curry that Brock had made.

'I wouldn't tell Brock this, but it's delicious! If I was human I would probably say this was good enough.'

Paul was so involved in his meal that he barely noticed the goodhearted laughs from the trainers around him.

"You were right Ash, it seems he loves my cooking!" Brock stated as he got Ash another plate.

Paul ignored the fact that he had eaten Ash's dinner and devoured the food like his life depended on it. After Paul had licked his plate clean with his small tongue, he walked over to the closest sleeping bag and curled up in a ball, letting out a small yawn.

"Espeon! That's where I sleep..." Ash whined, arms swinging low.

Paul's last thought was 'stop acting so weak' before he fell into a peaceful sleep.

Ash sighed in resignation and straightened up. "I guess you can sleep with me for once..."

"Careful Ash... don't spoil him too much or Pikachu may get jealous." Dawn warned, half serious and half joking.

Ash turned to Pikachu, who had heard his name and broke off from the other pokemon to run to his trainer. Pikachu stopped at Ash's feet and gave a questioning gaze.

"Hey buddy. Will you get jealous if I pamper Espeon for a while?"

Pikachu shook his head no and smiled, willing to help the new pokemon fit in with the group.

"Pika Pi!"

* * *

Hooray! I got through this! Review with a desired name and you could be one of the next pokemon Paul bullies or a random trainer! Limited space! If no one asks, I'll make up names. Until next time,

Chow! : )


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